In ancient Greece lived a handsome and talented
sculptor named Pygmalion. He loved his work and would spend hours carving beautiful ivory statues,
always at his happiest when immersed in his art.

One day he chose a large, beautiful piece of ivory, and worked
for many long hours at it, chiseling and hammering until he finished. It was a statue of a beautiful lady.
Pygmalion at once fell in love with his creation - he thought it was so beautiful,
and he clothed the figure, gave it jewels, and named it Galatea, which
means "sleeping love". Treating Galatea as if she were his
girlfriend, he brought his ivory statue shells and pebbles, little birds and flowers of all colors.
He was obsessed!

Now, you must understand that Pygmalion was so into his
art that he had vowed never to marry. He had no time for girls, just his
sculptures. Still, the more he gazed upon Galatea, the more he wished
that he had a wife just like her, but alive.

During a big festival in honor of Aphrodite, the goddess
of love and beauty, Pygmalion went to the temple of Aphrodite to pray for a wife just like the statue in
his home. His prayers were so fervent and heart-felt, and his passion so
great, that the great goddess took notice.

Wanting to see for herself what all the fuss was about,
Aphrodite visited the home of the sculptor and was delighted to see the
ivory Galatea. She couldn't help but think that the statue looked much
like herself, it was so perfect. Pleased and flattered she brought the
statue to life.

When the sculptor returned home and kissed Galatea as
was his custom, he was startled at her warmth. As he showered her with
kisses he was beside himself with joy at discovering that slowly the
ivory was turning into flesh. Galatea smiled down at him and spoke
adoring words to her loving creator.

They soon got married and Aphrodite was the guest of
honor at their wedding. Pygmalion didn’t forget to thank Aphrodite for his good
fortune. He and Galatea brought gifts to her altar as long as they lived. Aphrodite blessed them with happiness and love in
return, and permitted both of them to live long and blissful lives. They
had two daughters named Paphos and Metharme.

This
is written by Thomas Bullfinch

Pygmalion saw so much to blame in women that he came at last to abhor the sex, and resolved to live
unmarried. He was a sculptor, and had made with wonderful skill a statue of ivory, so beautiful that no
living woman came anywhere near it. It was indeed the perfect semblance of a maiden that seemed to be alive, and only
prevented from moving by modesty.

His art was so perfect that it concealed itself and its product looked like the
workmanship of nature. Pygmalion admired his own work, and at last fell in love with the counterfeit creation.
Oftentimes he laid his hand upon it as if to assure himself whether it were living or not, and could not even then
believe that it was only ivory. He caressed it, and gave it presents such as young girls love, - bright shells and
polished stones, little birds and flowers of various hues, beads and amber. He put raiment on its limbs, and jewels
on its fingers, and a necklace about its neck. To the ears he hung earrings, and strings of pearls upon the breast.
Her dress became her, and she looked not less charming than when unattired. He laid her on a couch spread with
cloths of Tyrian dye, and called her his wife, and put her head upon a pillow of the softest feathers, as if she could
enjoy their softness.

The festival of Venus (Aphrodite) was at hand - a festival celebrated with great pomp at Cyprus. Victims were
offered, the altars smoked, and the odour of incense filled the air. When Pygmalion had performed his part in the
solemnities, he stood before the altar and timidly said, "Ye gods, who can do all things, give me, I pray you, for my
wife" - he dared not say "my ivory virgin," but said instead - "one like my ivory virgin."

Venus (Aphrodite), who was present at the festival, heard him and knew the thought he would have
uttered; and as an omen of her favour, caused the flame on the altar to shoot up
thrice in a fiery point into the air. When he returned home, he went to see his statue, and leaning over the couch, gave a kiss to the mouth. It seemed to be
warm. He pressed its lips again, he laid his hand upon the limbs; the ivory felt
soft to his touch and yielded to his fingers like the wax of Hymettus.

While he stands astonished and glad, though doubting, and fears he may be mistaken,
again and again with a lover's ardor he touches the object of his hopes. It was
indeed alive! The veins when pressed yielded to the finger and again resumed their roundness. Then at last the votary of Venus found words to thank the
goddess, and pressed his lips upon lips as real as his own. The virgin felt the kisses and blushed, and opening her timid eyes to the light, fixed them at thesame moment on her lover. Venus blessed the nuptials she had formed, and from
this union Paphos was born, from whom the city, sacred to Venus, received its name.